Countdown
by malachite157
Summary: The storm is raging, and for the Maximals, it is proving to be as dangerous as the killer it conceals. Seventh in the Losing Face series.
1. Chapter 1

**Countdown**

**By:** Sapphire (aka Malachite157)

Part One

PG-13 V

_**Writer's Note:** Many thanks to Joshin Yasha for inspiring me to write this after a bad writer's block! Her enthusiasm, advice and the songs she sent me really gave my muse a kick. Songs that suit this fic are "Needles", by Seether, and "Guarded" by Disturbed, (find the lyrics here). Also, thanks to my friends for their feedback, and to my wonderful editor for checking for errors in all my fics. That said, enjoy the penultimate fic in the series!_

* * *

The pandemonium that Myst left in her wake escalated when one of the generators failed and half the base lost power. Bathed in darkness, Rattrap dashed down the corridor, turned left and made his way to the light at the end - the control room. He skidded to a halt at the entrance and demanded to know what was happening.

He didn't get an answer straight away. Rhinox was frantically typing away at the controls while Optimus was having a heated argument with Depth Charge.

"---slagging bitch has betrayed us! Can't you see that you stupid ape?"

"Now you listen here..."

Cheetor and Silverbolt pushed passed Rattrap and approached Optimus.

"Big Bot, what's---"

"Not now, Cheetor."

"...do you hear me Primal? The storm's perfect cover for their attack! Override the defence coding on Myst's signature or you'll be giving them both an open invitation into the base!"

Cheetor confusedly looked to Silverbolt, who was frowning at the arguing bots and trying to decipher what was happening.

"HEY! What da slag is happenin' here! D'ya know da power's out down south?"

That caught their attention. Optimus and Depth Charge fell silent and Optimus turned to Rhinox.

"Rhinox?"

"That's what I'm trying to fix! I'm trying to get the back-up online, but it's not responding. Someone has to go to the fuel room and see what's up."

"Slagging Pit, if the power's down in the south of the base that means Waspinator's cell's down with it!" Depth Charge yelled.

"I'll go check on him," Cheetor declared and disappeared down the corridor.

"Rattrap, you go check the generators," Optimus ordered the transmetal. With one quick nod, Rattrap followed Cheetor's lead down the corridor.

"May I ask what the problem is? Where is Myst?" Silverbolt asked the flustered Maximal leader.

"Myst's gone missing in the storm," Optimus uttered quickly before turning back to Rhinox. "Is there still nothing on the scanners?"

Silverbolt blinked at this new development. Not a few hours ago was he talking to the femme. Had she been so dissatisfied with the Maximal way that she had departed already? And to what end? Surely not back to Rampage...

At that moment, the power flickered above them. "Oh don't tell me..." Rhinox trailed, and then suddenly more light poured into the room from the corridor entrance. The power was back.

A comm. channel opened on the main computer. "Da power working near you guys?" came Rattrap's voice.

"Yes, how did you---"

"Legs beat me to it. She was right by da fuel room when da lights went out."

"What was wrong?" Rhinox asked.

There was a muffled muttering and another comm. channel opened. Blackarchnia's dark, feminine voice radiated smugness as she spoke. "Rats. They'd chewed through some of the cabling."

Rhinox was unable to withhold a snicker and Optimus smiled, pulling back slightly from the computer and turning towards Depth Charge...only to find he was no longer there. His smile faded.

"Where's Depth Charge?" he asked Silverbolt, optics wide with alarm.

"I...didn't see him leave, I---" But the fuzor was cut off by Optimus's thundering footsteps as he hurried towards the Ark's exit.

Silverbolt walked over to Rhinox, frowning worriedly. "Is he showing on the scanners?"

"No. This storm's playing havoc with the signals," the Maximal scientist informed unhappily.

Outside, the storm was raging. The wind swept the rain across the arid landscape and whipped it against the Ark's partly opened doors. Optimal Optimus pushed them open further and stepped out into the cold wet.

"Depth Charge!" he hollered. The deafening crack and boom of thunder blocked out any possible reply and Optimus could barely hear his own voice. He stepped back inside and behind one of the doors and opened a comm. channel. He shouted into it. "Depth Charge, answer me!" Not surprisingly, he received only static. He grunted loudly in annoyance and turned back futilely towards the storm, peering into the darkness. Bright flashes of lightning illuminated the obelisks in short bursts and it was impossible to make out anything beyond a hundred meters.

He sighed in frustrated resignation. There was no finding the mantabot now, and even if he did he'd have a difficult time trying to bring him back to base. Optimus only had a vague notion of what must be going through the ex-guardian's mind right now and it was enough to make him shiver. There were times he was just as frightening and dangerous as Rampage.

He turned back inside and shut and manually double-bolted the doors. The ray had made his choice and if he wanted back in he'd have to pound his fists to let them all know. When he arrived back in the control room, he discovered Cheetor had not found Waspinator in the holding room - just a jarred door that must have previously been tampered with.

"Three guesses who did that," Rattrap snickered nastily.

"Well, there's only one way out and I locked it myself. He's not going anywhere. Now I suggest we split up and search for him."

"What about our fishy friend?" Blackarachnia enquired.

Optimus shook his head. "He's out in that storm and there's no point in looking for him. We can only hope he doesn't find Myst and Rampage doesn't find him."

"But we're quite okay wid' Crabby findin' Myst," Rattrap jumped in.

"You know, right now I don't actually care. They've made their choices and it's time we focussed on our own issues. Now let's split up. Cheetor, you take the second hall..."

* * *

The rolling waves created a turbulence that descended all the way down to the Nemesis and rocked it sufficiently to make it groan. Eerie creaks and moans echoed through its hollow, metal belly.

Tarantulas glanced up at the roof nervously. He knew there was a storm raging above and it made him uneasy. Not only was it physically unsettling him, but it was interrupting his scanner signals and possibly masking sounds of approach. It was ridiculous to even think about the possibility of Rampage somehow eluding his sensors, breaking in without his knowledge and getting past all the traps and security doors to this room. Such a feat would take the crab hours and he had a poor chance of success. Still, the possibility remained and that was enough to unnerve Tarantulas. He would not underestimate the crab. He knew he was intelligent and incredibly wily in finding ways in and out of places. He'd broken out of the maximum security lab on Omicron, after all.

He checked his computer screen for any sign of the killer in the area and found there was none. With a shaky sigh, he got back to work. He didn't have much more to do now. All that was needed was to reroute some of the power to the essential parts of the ship and get the weapons back online. After that, only the thrusters remained to be properly repaired and checked. That would require going outside, and it was the part Tarantulas dreaded most. He could try flying without performing maintenance on the thrusters, but it would be very risky. Perhaps not as risky as going outside, though. He'd have to think about it.

He climbed back onto his wheeled ramp and slid under a secondary console and started working and reworking the wires. A blaring beep made him jolt and touch a live wire. A nasty little shock coursed through his body and Tarantulas wheeled out from under the console quickly. He scrambled to his feet, gave the room a quick sweep with his eyes and then turned to the computer. A bright red signature had come onto the forest grid. Tarantulas called up a reading and discovered it to be Depth Charge, much to his relief. He couldn't think of any reason for the mantabot to be out in weather like this other than to hunt Rampage. Good, that would keep the maniac preoccupied for the time being.

"I hope they tear each other to pieces," Tarantulas grunted, aware that Depth Charge was also a threat. The aquabot could easily come upon the Nemesis during one of his long, solitary swims. Unlike Rampage, he wouldn't try to break in on his own. He'd alert the Maximals first and if Tarantulas wasn't ready and hadn't restored the weapons yet, he would be in trouble.

"I have got to work faster," he declared and hurriedly resumed his task. The longer he dawdled, the higher his chance of failure became.

* * *

A branch slapped Depth Charge across the face. He grabbed it and pulled it free from the trunk violently. He pushed forward, furious and agitated. The wet, spiky branches seemed to clutch and snag him while roots and small ditches threatened to trip him. Depth Charge felt a futile hatred towards the forest that seemed to be doing everything to stop him from reaching his goal. There was nothing he could do about it but persevere and keep on the alert. The extreme anger was making his movements clumsier than normal. He knew he was a good hunter and a skilled fighter, but his weakness was allowing hatred to blind him. He was aware of this weakness, but he made little effort to overcome it. It was hatred and anger that drove him on against his despair. Without it, he'd probably wither away or self-destruct.

Currently, his hatred was channelled towards two bots rather than one. He hadn't thought about what he'd do to Myst when he found her. He didn't care. He'd act out how he felt at that precise moment. All he could think about now was finding her and punishing her.

The thunder was deafening. The storm was unlike any he'd ever seen before. Ancient, deep-rooted trees were buckling and the smaller ones under their shelter were stripped bare of leaves. Torrents of rain reached the forest floor and formed rivers that turned the earth to sticky mud. Depth Charge had had to yank his foot free of it several times.

He pushed through a few more small trees, batting away the offending branches, and came to a river. It was much higher than he remembered. He stood on its banks and stared across it, taking in his environment and trying to decide where to go from here. His attention was caught by a glint of gold in the swirling black liquid of the river, revealed for an instant by a flash of lightning. He narrowed his optics and tried to make out what it was he'd seen. For a moment he couldn't see anything and then another double-flash of lightning highlighted several gold pieces of metal bobbing on the surface of the rapids. Depth Charge immediately recognised some of the pieces. They were body parts; Quickstrike's body parts.

His optics widened as he watched them move quickly past him and get swept away downstream. His fists clenched and trembled. Another victim! And this was, no doubt, just the start.

With renewed vigour, Depth Charge turned and moved briskly along the river bank, intent on following it until he found either Rampage or Myst.

Rampage would not be allowed to kill again, nor would Myst be allowed to help him. He'd make sure of it.

* * *

The rain was cold and the droplets large and heavy. It wasn't long before Myst's beast mode fur was drenched. Around her the wind howled and shadows leapt in the flickers of lightning. On the horizon she could make out the dark wall of trees that marked her destination. Despite the fear, Myst stepped up her pace. She wasn't so much in need for the comfort of shelter than she was for a resolution. In the next few hours her fate would be decided.

Twenty cycles later she broke into the cover of the forest. The storm was so violent that there was virtually no difference. The rain plunged through the canopy and the wind tugged at the trees, threatening to pull them from the earth. Rivulets coursed through the mulch that had been a covering of dry leaves on the forest floor before the rain hit. She trudged through it, making her way to the place she had first made home; her broken hollow.

She soon came to the stream which was now a rising river. She walked alongside it, her gaze searching the banks for any sign of life. It was difficult because the whole forest seemed to be breathing and shaking. Her spark had been pulsing at the same rapid rate since she left the Maximal base. Several times during her trip she had seriously considered turning back, but she had willed herself not to. She continued onwards, trying not to think and trying not to succumb to the rising fear that plagued her.

When she reached her destination, she felt a curious mix of relief and dismay at finding no-one there. She tentatively approached the ruins of her original hollow and stood in front of it, wondering if it could be restored. In the moment her thoughts changed to something other than Rampage, he stepped out from the trees behind her.

"Miserable weather to be out in, isn't it?"

Myst stifled a gasp but was unable to stop herself turning sharply towards the speaker. She stared across the twenty meters between them. Rampage stood, a dark, hulking form lit in eerie grey-white bursts of light. She caught glimpses of his shining red metal and tried to dispel the illusion that he was covered in blood.

"Doesn't seem to bother you," she stated, managing to keep her voice steady.

"I love this weather," he replied and took a step forward. Myst immediately took one back.

"Don't tell me we're back to this again," Rampage said wearily.

"Where's Quickstrike?" she demanded suddenly.

Rampage fought to control his temper, then shrugged. It was true enough - he had left the body in bits in the dry stream bed but now the water had washed it away. "I don't know. I don't care. I don't think you care, either."

Myst hesitated in her reply, so he continued.

"Why have you sought me? I thought you wanted nothing more to do with me."

She averted her gaze for a moment. "Well, I---"

Rampage was remarkably fast for his size and in an instant he had leapt the twenty meters between them. Before Myst could react, he had thrown her against a tree and pinned her roughly by her wings. In the next moment, his thumbs entered both her gun barrels and he jerked his arms downwards with such force that her guns were torn from her wings. Myst let out a shrill cry of pain but stopped short when Rampage violently jolted her. Biting back the pain, she forced herself to look at him as steadily as she could. She had not used her infra red because of the brightness of the lightning and so she only caught glimpses of his expression. Her body went cold. His optics were narrowed and his face was dark, contorted in suspicious hate.

"Have you come to mess me around again, Myst?" he asked lowly.

Myst managed to calm her shuddering spark and compose herself enough to speak. "No, I've come to admit my folly to you. I was wrong, I know I betrayed you, and I'm sorry for it."

"You're not sorry," he growled. "_Not yet._"

"Rampage, please!" she uttered as he pressed harder on her aching wings. "Hear me out! I'm not here as a double agent! I'm done with the Maximals. I've got what I needed from them. I am returning to you!"

"What made you think I wanted you back? I've given you far more of my patience than you deserve," he snarled viciously.

"You forget, you also lied to me. What reaction were you expecting?" she snapped, suddenly angry.

"A better one than this!"

"I do what I think is best for my survival!" Myst exclaimed, thrusting forward so her face was a bold inch away from his. "Surely you can understand that? The Maximals were my best option at the time. It's why you took me to them!"

"So what's changed?" he demanded. "Why come back to me now? Do you truly believe I am less hesitant to kill you now than I would've been when I came for the Maximals?" Bright flickers of lightning illuminated the terrifying expression on his face.

"I believe for the most part of our alliance you were intending on killing me," she said sharply "Then something changed. It got past the point of your preserving me for the sake of some shaky pact we'd made."

Rampage snorted and stepped back and threw her to the ground with considerable force. Myst hit it hard, feeling the painful impact shuddering through her superstructure. She skidded on her back for a few meters and had to shake her head to ward off the dizziness. When she looked up, Rampage was approaching her, his enormous form lit sporadically in white-grey bursts. Water slid over his body in sheets, the rain was coming down so heavily now. The wind tore at the branches around her and screamed eerily.

"You assume much," he said, pointing an accusing finger at her. She sat up and edged back, glaring at him.

"I can't change the past, Rampage. But I can try and make up for it in the future, if you'll give me that chance."

Rampage stopped suddenly and snatched her ankle, pulling her roughly towards him. Myst grunted and clawed futilely at the ground in an effort to stay on it. Rampage swept her off the muddy earth and held her upside down in front of him

"Why should I? What reason is there for me to keep you alive a second longer?" he said lowly, voice just above the thunder.

"What reason is there for you to waste your only possible ally?" she asked defiantly, but the fear in her was rising. He could also sense a growing desperation, as well as another emotion he could not understand. He was most sharply tuned into fear, pain, anger and anxiety, but there were a few emotions he found foreign. He'd more or less been able to read Myst's primary feelings, up until recently. She was harbouring something he couldn't decipher.

"You assume I need allies," he growled. "I needed no assistance in murdering every last bot on Omicron. I don't need your help on doing the same here."

Myst maintained her glowering expression, despite her racing spark and humiliating position. "That may be so, but I am pledging my permanent allegiance to you nonetheless. I may be fickle, it is in my nature to be so in order to keep alive. By all rights I should have been dead many times over, but I've managed to cheat death by playing the games I play. But I am not so stupid as to betray you twice! Not when you are so close to achieving your long-sought victory. It is why I have chosen to side with you. You betrayed me, too. Now we are even. I want to start afresh."

Rampage regarded her coldly for a moment and Myst wondered if he was considering her proposal. The next moment she found herself being hurtled through the air again. Her back hit a tree and she slid down, landing on her rear with a painful thump. She did not have the strength to stand up again.

The towering crabbot strode over to her again, hands balled into fists. She looked up at him blearily, and her desperation rose. But there was also pain, and not only of the physical kind. Rampage stopped short of throwing his fists into her when he felt it. It was a sharp pang. He'd felt something like it before, when he killed the partner of a couple. It was a feeling of loss, or something like it. He did not understand why she was feeling that way so strongly. Her expression was angry, but it was also sad.

"Are you going to destroy me, Rampage?" she asked wearily. "After all this, after all we've been through? Is it really worth it?"

Rampage's confusion at her strange emotion disappeared at her questions. Anger quickly returned.

"You were a waste of my time and my energy. I can't trust you."

"What can I do to make you believe me?" she cried exasperatedly. She stared at him, wide-eyed, fingers digging into the mud. For a moment, he saw a glimmer of the bot he used to know, used to want around. She had been such a refreshing change, being someone who accepted him at face-value, without knowledge of his past. He was free to play with her as he wished until he grew tired. Then he began to enjoy her company a little more. She had been different, she had been interesting. Like him, her ultimate goal was freedom, and he could relate to her on that level. Morals had seemed unimportant to her at the time and she disassociated herself with either faction. He did not want her to die straightaway, because a part of him was intrigued by her, attracted to her...and then it all went to the Pit. She had reacted so typically! Suddenly, his past, his disregard of the morals she showed no signs in having before, were an issue! How could she change so drastically? Was it all an overreaction of shock? Could he really trust a bot who behaved in such a way?

Rampage shook his head, dismissing her plea with a degree of regret. He was about to decide what to do with her when another emotion stirred in him. It was not his, and it was not hers. His head snapped up and he peered into the darkness. Someone was coming. Depth Charge. The anger was familiar. He wondered briefly what was best to do, when an idea came to him. He looked down at Myst, a new light in his eyes.

"Left the Maximals for good, hmm? If you have, Depth Charge would surely be baying for your blood."

Myst stared at him confusedly, and nodded slowly. "No doubt he would. He's never liked me. I am the reason---"

"I'm still talking. Yes, he chose to save you over the chance of killing me," Rampage finished, looking past her. "I'm sure he regrets it, now. Or he will."

Myst swallowed her protests at Rampage's implied menace. She wanted so badly to object to his plans of violence, but she knew she was in no position to do that. She had made her choice now, and she had to stick to it no matter how ugly it got.

Rampage's gaze fixed on her again and he bent and picked her up again by her arms, squeezing them so hard the metal in them was straining. Myst swallowed her cries and regarded him earnestly. "What are you going to do, Rampage?" she asked quietly.

His gaze drifted from her to something behind her and he said, "Test your claim."

* * *

Rattrap eyed the vents warily. He'd crawled through air vents several times in his life and knew they were an often overlooked possible entrance or exit for people wanting to break in or out.

While the Maximals split and hunted for Waspinator on ground floor, Rattrap decided to try a different approach. Five cycles later, he was edging his way along the vents in beast mode, being as quiet as he could. It was times like this that he missed his more organic rat form which had padded feet and a far more flexible body.

"Nyah!" He couldn't help but utter a cry as he squeezed around a particularly narrow turn. To his brief surprise, he felt a very cold breeze blow onto his face. The vent led to a small, barred hole in the volcano wall which allowed air to flow freely into it. He must be close, then.

Behind him he could just hear the clattering of metal feet on the ground as his comrades moved about the base, searching for the escapee.

Rattrap grimaced as his metal scraped the sides of the vent as it seemed to narrow towards the source of the wind. When he was beginning to think he couldn't go any further without getting stuck, he turned the last corner and saw the exit. The icy wind blasted into his face with nothing to break it at all. The bars were gone. There were obvious scrape lines where Waspinator must have had trouble squeezing the last few meters and splattered, dried droplets of mech fluid near the end. The bug had gone, but not without considerable pain and effort, Rattrap imagined.

"Gotta admire his determination," he muttered. He squinted at the darkness outside. He couldn't make out a thing, and even when the lightning flickered, all it highlighted was the rain.

With a sigh and as much of a shake of the head as he could manage, Rattrap began the painful trip back. He wriggled and squirmed his way, rear-end first, towards the nearest exit.

Rhinox turned towards the sound of footsteps. Rattrap appeared at the entrance to the control room. He looked tired and mildly annoyed. "Call off da search, Waspinator's gone," he stated wearily.

"How do you know?" Rhinox asked.

"I searched da vents and found traces of him at the exit. He broke da bars an' flew out."

Rhinox sighed. "Great." He opened a channel to all units and broke the news.

It wasn't long before all the Maximals had regrouped in the control room.

"Is it really such a big deal that he's gone? He wasn't exactly of much worth to us," Blackarachnia said.

Optimus shook his head tiredly. "No, it's not a big issue. It was Myst who was arguing for keeping him here and safe from Rampage."

"Well he sure tried hard to escape. I get da feeling Waspinator doesn't think he's safer in here," Rattrap folded his arms and leaned against a wall.

"Which is worrying in itself," Optimus murmured.

"What's happening with that situation, may I ask?" queried Silverbolt. He didn't have to specify what situation.

"Depth Charge found a way to reconstitute the weapon. Rhinox is going to work on it for the next two weeks and then we're going to bring Rampage in," Optimus stated.

Rattrap's optics widened. "Bring him IN? Surely you mean take him OUT. And how did fishface find a way?"

Optimus's facial expression looked grim. "You don't want to know."

"So wait, are we actually going to go out and USE the weapon on him when it's repaired?" Blackarachnia asked. "Are you sure that'll work?"

"It took him down before so there's no reason it won't again. The problem will be catching him, and we'd have to do it as a group. I don't know if it's the best method of handling him, quite frankly. We'll need to put our heads together and try and come up with the best solution. But at least with the weapon we'll have a means of defence and an option if we need it."

"What about the rest of the Predacons?" Cheetor questioned.

"For now we'll let them be, except for Tarantulas. I want him found and brought in as soon as possible," Optimus said earnestly.

"You figure he's up to something," Blackarachnia mused aloud.

"He's always up to something, and I don't like him on the loose with no one keeping check on him. Since he broke from Megatron's rank he's been free to do as he liked, but even then Megatron, I think, kept an eye on him. No one has seen anything of him in weeks and that does not bode well," Optimus ended worriedly.

"How're we going to find him with Rampage on the loose?" Cheetor wanted to know.

Optimus turned to Rhinox who shot him a sympathetic glance. It was a tricky question. "I'm not sure yet, but it's probably best we find him before Rampage does."

The room fell silent, but Cheetor had not caught on to the implications of Optimus's statement. "Why's that? Isn't Rampage the bigger threat?"

"He'll be an even larger threat if he forces spiderbrain ta put his spark back together," Rattrap informed him.

Cheetor's face dropped. "Oh, yeah...gosh, is that really a possibility?"

"So much has happened lately, I'm not going to rule out anything," Optimus answered. "Now I think you should all get some rest. There's nothing more for us to do on the Waspinator front, and tomorrow we have a lot of thinking to do. Cheetor, would you keep watch on the monitors, in case Depth Charge comes back?"

Cheetor nodded. "Sure thing," he said quietly.

With a nod in their general direction, Optimus watched his troops disperse and head off to their quarters. He had a few quiet words with Rhinox before he too went to recharge. Cheetor was left alone in the control room to listen to the storm and ponder their situation. It was not a task he enjoyed.

* * *

Depth Charge was not tired, even though he had been up most of the night stalking through the jungle. During that time, Rampage had not come in close of range of his specially tuned scanners and seemed to move further when Depth Charge attempted to pursue him. He had long since discovered that Rampage was just as aware of him and his movements as he was of his. Usually the killer toyed with him a bit, making him chase him before letting himself be found. It seemed that now Rampage was in the mood to play, as he had remained stationary for the past half megacycle. Depth Charge was steadily closing in on his position.

"Protoform X located in vector 0,0,3," his computer hummed monotonously. He was close now. Depth Charge prepped his weapon.

Myst had foolishly attempted to get out of the mud. The more she struggled, the faster she sank. Eventually she went still and awaited the inevitable. Rampage had thrust her into the large pit of wet earth and bracken and disappeared some time ago, although she knew he was not far. She could still sense him. For all her empathic abilities, Myst could not figure him out. The crab bot was so tuned to emotions and yet seemed incapable of displaying the full range. She wondered if, in all his life, he had even sensed anything other than fear and hatred? Maybe love and affection were so far from his experiences that they were like new colours he had yet to interpret. Depth Charge seemed to believe that he was unable to feel anything other than a sick joy from others' pain. But he was dead to the other emotions himself. All Depth Charge could now feel was pain and anger and the only pleasure he might derive from life was seeing Rampage suffer. They were, when one looked at it objectively, quite alike.

Myst was sure this was not a good thing, especially when the ex-guardian stepped from the trees and spotted her in the mud, shouting a vicious "You!" Ruby optics burned with fiery anger and Myst couldn't help but shift uncomfortably.

"Hello Depth Charge," she said wearily. She knew, to a degree, what she was in for. Rampage had left her here to be found to see for himself if the same bot who had sacrificed everything to save her a few days ago had changed tune completely and was now out to get her. It was the quickest way to "test" her story, and Myst had resigned herself to the fact that Rampage wasn't the forgiving type. He hadn't forgiven the Universe for being so damn hard on him since the moment he was born. If Myst wanted to be with him, she had to play by his rules.

Depth Charge scowled at her venomously. "Looks like you've gotten yourself into a fix," he said acidly.

"I suppose."

Depth Charge approached her. He was much taller than her so he was able to lean over and reach her fairly easily. He roughly gripped her shoulders and pulled her out. Myst was in the air for a second or two and then she was on the ground, rolling awkwardly. She came to rest by a tree. Gingerly she pushed herself up and rested on her knees. Muddied, still bleeding in places and aching all over, Myst looked up at the formidable bot towering over her.

Depth Charge shook his head at her. "Look at you...you're filth! You weren't worth saving."

Myst was completely unarmed. Rampage had disarmed her and done her the favour of removing her wing guns.

"Maybe, but at least my blood's not on your hands," she replied matter-of-factly.

"We'll see how long that stays true," he spat.

He reached for her and she scrambled back hastily.

"Don't try to run from me, bitch. You won't get far."

Myst got to her feet slowly. "I may be battered and dirty, but I assure you my legs work just fine." It was a bold statement, because Myst's legs were heavy with mud and sore from being thrown around.

"What have you told him? And don't look at me as if you don't know, because I know Rampage is nearby and so do you."

He took a threatening step forward. "I tracked him down based on his last co-ordinates, where he'd been stationary for some time, and when I arrive lo! and behold; who should be here but your wretched self."

"Stuck in the mud. Yeah, great place for me to form a plan with him against you," she growled back contemptuously.

"I don't care if you were up a tree! The fact remains that you were together. Even if you weren't willing to tell him what you know, you would if it ensured your survival. Screw everyone else!"

"I don't know anything! I wasn't at your base long enough."

"Yeah, right!"

"I wasn't aware there was something TO know!" she cried. It was true, too. While Rhinox, Optimus and Depth Charge had been discussing the rebuilding of the weapon, Myst had been stealing out of the base. She hadn't heard a word of their plan.

Depth Charge did not believe her no matter what she said, and so upon hearing her indignant denial, he opened fire.

The single blast took Myst by surprise, because while she knew Depth Charge was highly strung, she didn't expect him to turn to violence on an unarmed bot so readily.

She was knocked completely back. A moment later she was grabbed and hefted up. Depth Charge ran with her a short distance and then pinned her against an obelisk with his arm across her throat. Myst choked and wheezed. She kicked hard outwards and managed to knock him back a little, but the much stronger Transformer came back at her with a vengeance.

Depth Charge pushed hard against her neck.

"You will NOT aid him in taking more lives, do you hear me!" he snarled viciously.

Then, more softly but equally as aggressive, he added: "I tracked down that twisted freak for four stellar cycles of my life to bring him to justice and PREVENT him from ever repeating his vile performance. Do you know how much it took to bring him down? Have you stood alone in the dead silence of the aftermath of one of his killing sprees? Have you _watched_ him kill, Myst? Well I have, and I won't let anyone stand in my way of ridding this universe of him once and for all. Not the High Council, not Primal and especially not **_you_**."

His left hand shot forward and gripped one of her legs. "Now I'm going to _stop_ you from running and take you back to the Maximals to receive your punishment, and I assure you you won't get a welcome the second time round."

Myst tensed as his grip tightened on her leg. She looked at him balefully. Depth Charge noticed that there was no fear in her eyes, but instead a look of disdain and defiance. The expression added fuel to the fire of hatred inside him, and he said lowly: "Or maybe I won't take you back to them. Maybe I won't give you that chance of mercy..."

He paused then, arm still pressed hard against her throat while his other hand clutched her leg tightly. He stared at her, wrestling to control the frighteningly violent urges he was experiencing and trying to tune into that tiny voice in his head that was telling him not to give in, not to slip that notch further...

"Well go on, then! Crush her."

Depth Charge stiffened at the voice. From the corner of his vision he saw Rampage step out from the shadows. "There's no use in making empty threats all the time. Very soon people are going to _stop_ taking you _seriously_," he jeered, the end of his sentence dripping with sarcasm.

Slowly, Depth Charge turned his head to glare murderously at his archenemy. Rampage stood, arms at his side, eyes alight with curious anticipation. "Finish her, while you've got her between your finger and your thumb."

Depth Charge's entire body tensed as Rampage's stare bore into him. The crabbot could almost see the waves of pent-up anger and loathing rolling off him. He could feel his confusion and desperation.

"Go ahead," he encouraged. "Break her."

Depth Charge watched Rampage like a hawk. He was the demon that constantly dominated his subconscious and who was now drowning out that tiny, desperate voice.

"Kill the traitor," he pressed, his voice dark, menacing, insistent.

Depth Charge's breathing was becoming increasingly rapid. A part of him wanted to drop Myst and lunge for Rampage and tear him to pieces, while another part of him was growing ever more tempted to end the life he held in his hands. To see how (or if) Rampage would react, and to vent some of the asphyxiating rage he had been carrying for too long.

_'Traitor,'_ his mind's voice hissed.

_'She's the traitor who aids the killer of your friends, your colleagues, your wife...'_

He increased the pressure on her throat, causing her to gasp and retch, while all the while his body began to tremble and his blood-red eyes continued to stare into those hateful green embers.

Rampage's face darkened and his optics narrowed as he leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. "Do it," he pressed. "It won't take much - she's already injured - and then you can deal with me and me alone."

Depth Charge's chest was heaving now, his breaths coming out in short, sharp stints. He felt Myst squirm under his grip, but his vision was of Rampage.

"Do it," he urged.

_'Don't listen; he's working you,'_ the tiny voice warned.

"Do it!"

Myst was writhing now and beginning to thrash. He was dimly aware of a spray of hot, sticky mech fluid on his arm as she retched.

Depth Charge felt himself succumbing to the evil taunting. The more he listened to Rampage, the angrier he grew and the more he hated Myst for choosing to side with him. The desire to be rid of her and Rampage once and for all overwhelmed him. A second before he threw all his weight behind his arm, Rampage stood upright and said: "But you might want to keep her power converter in tact. After all, it's your only chance of remaking the weapon of my destruction."

Depth Charge caught himself. There was no lie in Rampage's voice, which meant Myst hadn't told him about the plan. They'd obviously had a previous meeting, and yet she hadn't passed on the information. And on both occasions, Rampage had hurt her. First directly, and now indirectly through him. He had set him up. Depth Charge pulled back in horror from Myst, as if he was physically repulsed by her. She fell, coughing violently, and collapsed onto her side, gasping.

He stared down at her, aghast. His sentiments towards her had not changed and there was no sympathy in his wide eyes. It was the fact that he had been worked, that he had _allowed_ himself to be worked by Rampage almost to the point of breaking and doing the exact opposite of what was his job to do.

"Oh dear, Fins. You seem to have dropped the ball," Rampage lilted mockingly.

Depth Charge picked up the hidden meanings in those simple, derisive words. They were what snapped him out of his stupor. He spun on his heels and faced the crab. Rampage straightened fully and grinned smugly.

"When I say that I'm going to blow you to a thousand pieces, you can be sure that it's NOT and EMPTY THREAT!"

Depth Charge whipped his gun from his side and opened fire. Rampage took the hits and stumbled backwards, landing up against a tree. He grunted and touched his wounded chest. Even as the smoke spiralled up from his wounds, his body began to heal. The chest wounds closed. Rampage looked at Depth Charge and laughed in defiant glee.

The ray-bot drew his second laser-rifle and then fired both guns continuously. Rampage dived to the right and rolled. He sprang to his feet behind an oak which he used for cover as he drew his weapon. He emerged firing at the blue Maximal, who had not ceased his own barrage. The two exchanged laserbullets and missiles in a fashion that made evident their long-time animosity. Rampage avoided some but not all of Depth Charge's bullets, partly because his firing was so relentless that it was difficult to avoid getting hit and partly because he wanted the manta to see how quickly he could recover from injuries now that he had his core spark. It would remind the raybot of his former glory and the days when they fought down to the wire. Rampage remembered, however, that it was a combination of power, planning and cunning that had eventually defeated him and so he kept his arrogance in check. He would taunt the ray, but he wouldn't overdo it like he had done the day of his recapture. Depth Charge was extremely headstrong at times, but he was also clever and not to be underestimated.

Depth Charge was not thinking along the same lines as Rampage. He was filled with pure rage. All he wanted to do was hurt the psychopath and make him suffer. He was sick of being manipulated by him, and filled with a terrible sense of panic and frustration in that, once again, he was sparring with the killer that he had worked so hard and for so long to apprehend. That he was free again and that someone was choosing, despite knowing of his actions, to join him filled him with such hate that he felt sick with it. What's worse was that Rampage had seen this and had tried to use his odium against him, by tricking him into killing a bot in cold blood. Depth Charge could do it. It was never a question of if he had the nerve or not. It was a question of control, and Depth Charge had lost it. He knew this and his shame and horror was now fuelling him.

The crabbot was firing his trigun on rapid fire setting, but decided it was time for some heavy-duty missiles. He began loading three of his super missiles. Depth Charge noticed and immediately tried to stop him. He took his tail spear from behind and hurtled it at the crabbot. He got the desired effect. Rampage was thrown off his feet by the explosion. He skidded through the bushes and wet leaves, coming to a halt just a meter shy of a jagged rock. He had managed to grip his gun the entire trip and as soon as he was settled he fired one of the missiles. Depth Chare realized this too late and was unable to dodge the missile, so instead he shielded himself with his great fins. The missile exploded and took off the surface layer and severely rattled and shook up his structure and internals. He expected two more missiles to do the same, but no more followed. Depth Charge was in a vulnerable position if he drew back his fins, but he couldn't just stand there with his head hidden behind them while Rampage came closer. He decided to throw himself sideward and manoeuvred his body into a roll. He rolled twice and clambered quickly to his feet. At first he could not see his adversary, but a moment later there was a flash from the trees. Three regular laser bullets flew towards him. One clipped his wing as he turned to avoid them, but the other was fired deliberately off-centre as it caught his hand as he moved. His secondary rifle was shot from it. He let out a surprised and infuriated cry and fired repeatedly in the direction the bullets had come from. He heard a grunt of pain and then spotted Rampage stumbling away from his position in the thick bush. The crabbot started to run towards him. Depth Charge holstered his gun and charged forward. The two were almost upon each other when Rampage suddenly pointed his launcher and fired one of his missiles. Depth Charge countered it with a quick flatdisk laser from his chest. It detonated the missiles before it made contact with him, but the resulting explosions sent them both back. The manta landed on his rear and skidded painfully backwards for some time. When he looked up, he found Rampage had been slammed hard against the rock he had just missed last time. The jagged surface of the rock had dug into his back and the crabbot was groaning loudly from the pain. He forced himself forward and staggered away from it, unable to ignore the intense throbbing and aching. Depth Charge narrowed his optics as he stood. He raised his weapon and fired. He hit Rampage square in the chest while he was still dazed from his crash and forced him back up against the rock.

He started forward. "This ends now, X." He aimed his gun, ignoring his body's own agonizing protests, and prepared to fire a powerful volley into the crab. But he never got that far. A sudden, burning pain started in his back and intensified. Then his head was hit and he saw red briefly before black swamped his vision. The last thing Depth Charge would remember was hearing his own internal computer blaring a damage warning before he fell into stasis lock.

Rampage shook his head to clear the spangled black and red dots clouding his vision and raised his head to see what had happened to his opponent. The mantabot was lying face down 20 meters away, holes smouldering on his back. Behind him knelt Myst, with Depth Charge's secondary weapon in hand.

"That's for trying to choke me," she declared bitterly.

Rampage started to get to his feet. "Myst," he began gruffly. The next second there was a bang and Rampage was knocked right back onto his rear. He clutched at his battered chest and looked across at her, slightly dazed and surprised. Myst glared. "And that's for encouraging him!"

Rampage shook his head in irritation. "Come now, Myst. You know what I was really doing."

Myst stood but kept the weapon trained on him. "You can push Depth Charge's buttons all you like, but don't do it when he's got his arm over my throat!"

"You overreact. I told you beforehand what I was going to do."

"He could have killed me!"

"**I** could have killed you," Rampage reminded her sharply. She opened her mouth to reply to that, but found she had no argument.

He got to his feet with effort and glowered at her. "And you shouldn't have interrupted our duel! Depth Charge is mine to fight!"

"I had every right to shoot him! The guy's as much my enemy now as he is yours."

"You stay OUT of our way," he snarled. They fell silent, watching each other intently, both of them aching all over from their wounds. The storm raged around them and the wind and rain beat against their bodies. "Put down that weapon, now," he ordered, giving her a warning look.

Myst hesitated for a moment, then dropped the gun. If Rampage was going to kill her, the gun would not stop him.

He stared at her and she could see he was thinking things over about her. "Are you convinced?" she yelled above the wind and thunder. "Do you really think I have any choice now as to where I go?" When he did not answer, she went on. "It's different now, Rampage. I know who you are now. I know what you've done. Before I was reacting to you how I saw you then, without the knowledge that every one else in this wretched place had. I was shocked at what I learned. I'm not so different from every other bot as you might have presumed. But...I didn't react so much to what you were and what lay in your past, as I did to the fact that you _had lied _to me. In the nature of our alliance, it shouldn't have mattered," at this point a strange look came into his eyes. "But it mattered in a friendship. I thought we...I thought we had that, or at least something close." Rampage was very still, optics still narrowed in a hard glare, but she could tell she had his undivided attention. "It's behind us, now. I don't expect to revive it," she said, struggling to keep from admitting that that was indeed what she wanted to do, and that she cared about him, wanted him. She could not predict his reaction to that, and she feared that it would be negative. It was quite likely, she grudgingly admitted to herself, that he could not understand her feelings for him at all, and that he might never. So, for now at least, she'd have to sound neutral. "I've merely come to offer my allegiance to you, and make my choice, my _permanent _choice, known to you."

She was unsure how long they remained there, unmoving and silent. Both were sensing the emotions of the other, although Myst was to a lesser degree. Her spark was pulsing too fast and she was too on edge to properly interpret what little she sensed from him.

Finally, Rampage snorted and turned away from her. He began to walk away. She was taken by surprise at the dismissive action. " Wait! Where are you going?" she called.

He ignored her and continued forward, disappearing into the darkness. Myst stared after him. She was tempted to cry out and ask what was going to happen and where she now stood with him, but knew not to push her luck. She tentatively came to the decision that she had re-earned his trust, for now. When he was out of sight, she allowed her gaze to rest again on Depth Charge. While she was upset with him for his most recent actions, she could not quell the pang of pity she felt for him. She understood why he behaved the way he did. But it was too late now for second-guessing. She'd have to forcefully quash any feelings she had for the Maximals, because they would only be hindrances to her. She gingerly raised herself back onto her feet and picked up Depth Charge's gun. She needed to find shelter and a place to recharge and wait out this storm, and so she headed to the Predacon base. She knew she was lucky, tonight. Once again she had cheated death, but she would not jeopardize her chance by getting in Rampage's way. For the time being she would have to distance herself as much as possible, partly because it was dangerous to be involved in any way with what occurred over the next few days, and partly because she knew it was going to be very, very ugly.

* * *

Cheetor had finished his monitor shift an hour ago and now Rattrap was keeping watch. The transmetal rat stared at the screen with interest. An hour ago the radiation from the storm had cleared enough to reveal signatures again. Depth Charge's bold Maximal insignia was lit up in red and moving again. The manta had been stationary for some time and then suddenly started moving forward. Rattrap was tempted to try and radio the ray bot in, but thought better of it. Depth Charge would come back when it suited him and there really wasn't much else to it.

Suddenly, the manta froze again. He had been stopping and starting a fair deal but this pause was lasting longer than before. He narrowed his optics as he tried to think of what could have made the Maximal go so still. "I wonder..." he murmured. He started typing away at the scanner frequency controls and altered the settings. He had worked on the signature blocker Myst had stolen. There was a way to get past its firewall and if he could do that, he could reveal Myst.

"You wonder?"

Rattrap jumped a little and wheeled his chair around to face Rhinox. It was early in the morning and Rhinox had not had much sleep, but the scientist didn't seem to need much. Rattrap was not very surprised to see him up and about already. It was hard to sleep with all the unrest. "Fishface has stopped moving," he explained. "He's online and everythin', but somethin's halted 'im. I'm wonderin' if maybe he's found Missy."

"Oh? Didn't she steal one of your signature blockers?" Rhinox asked as he came up beside him.

"Yeah, the thieving Pred," Rattrap replied bitterly. He caught himself before he said anything more. He felt almost as strongly towards her as Depth Charge did, which was why he was so curious to see what the mantabot was doing. "I'm thinkin' I could get past da blocker's firewall and uncover her."

Rhinox scratched his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible. What have you tried?"

"Eh, not much so far. Just playin' with some basic settings. D'ya know how ta crack it?"

Rhinox leaned over him and began working the console. "I think so."

Rattrap watched what he was doing closely and then suddenly an extra red symbol lit up on the grid. "There she is!" he cried.

Rhinox drew back and frowned at the screen. "Depth Charge is right on top of her. That's not good."

"Depends on your viewpoint," Rattrap couldn't help muttering.

Rhinox ignored the comment. "Have you tried radioing him?"

"What's da point? He's either gonna cut us off, if he hasn't already, or he's gonna ignore us. Ya know how he gets."

Rhinox shook his head unhappily. "Honestly, I worry about him. He's got far too much self-imposed weight on his shoulders and it's driving him--"

"Nuts?" Rattrap finished. Rhinox looked down at him with a grim expression.

Rattrap turned back to the grid. "I don't like him much, but I get his reasoning. He's lost a lot to that Predacon monster."

"Rampage wasn't always a Predacon," Rhinox reminded him gently.

Rattrap felt something go cold inside him at the reminder. He knew it was true. He had been a part of the experiment, but only at the tail end when it needed to be 'terminated'. Even so, it shamed him that he had had anything to do with it. He disliked Rampage for obvious reasons, but there was another, more hidden reason that he kept private. Rampage had been created by Maximals. He had been twisted by them and...Primus knows what else. Rampage was a horrible, living example that the Maximals had dark sides too.

"Yeah well, he's an enemy to both sides now. Da sooner he's stopped da betta," Rattrap quickly dismissed. Suddenly, Depth Charge's signature pulled back and changed direction. Both he and Rhinox leaned a little closer. The signature moved forward and the tremor sensors began to bleep. "Uh oh," Rhinox murmured as he turned to the sensors reading. "He's shooting at something."

"And it ain't Myst," Rattrap observed grimly.

The two of them watched the red symbol closely for a few cycles. Rattrap turned and looked at Rhinox, throwing up his arms. "Slag it, I wish I knew how Rampage managed ta hide 'imself like dat! Da other Preds show on da map," Rattrap cried, frustrated.

"Shh! Look," Rhinox said. Rattrap refocused his attention on the screen. The signature was still now. "Give me a status report on unit Depth Charge," Rhinox commanded the computer.

"Unit Depth Charge offline."

"Hoo boy! Dat ain't good!" Rattrap exclaimed. Rhinox pushed his arm past him and opened a comm. channel.

"Rhinox to Optimus!"

There was a pause and then a groggy: "What is it, Rhinox?"

"You'd better come see this. Depth Charge has shown up on the scanners, and he's been moving, but he's not moving anymore."

Optimus was in the control room a few moments later. He came up behind Rattrap and beside Rhinox. "What's his status?"

"He's offline. Myst is behind him, but they weren't fighting each other from what we could see. Depth Charge was firing in another direction."

"It sounds as if Rampage has found him," he stated.

"Or da other way 'round, maybe," Rattrap spoke up. "But his and Myst's signatures were pretty intimate before Fishhead turned his attention elsewhere. What I'm waitin' ta see is how long Myst stays online from now."

"I don't think we should wait to see that," Optimus decided. "We need to collect Depth Charge. He's in serious danger right now. Rattrap, you're with me. I'll get Silverbolt to assist. Rhinox, keep a close eye on this situation and keep us updated."

"Wait, we're goin' out dere with crabby at full power?" Rattrap near-gasped.

"I doubt he's at full power now considering how long he and Depth Charge fought," Rhinox observed. "But I think it's wise to get out there before Depth Charge's status takes a turn for the worse."

"Haw, man!" Rattrap grumbled as Optimus contacted Silverbolt. Soon the three were assembled. Optimus transformed to flight mode. "Get on," he ordered. Rattrap did so and in the next cycle the three of them were past the re-enforced blast doors and speeding towards the manta's position.

* * *

Waspinator was pleased to have found the Predacon base unoccupied. There was no sign of Inferno or Quickstrike anywhere and, more comfortingly, there was no trace of Rampage either. The slightly battered little Predacon checked the computers and found the autoguns were still on high alert. They were only of some comfort to him, because they were tuned to enemies with energy signatures and Rampage tended not to show up on the scanners. Waspinator had to keep reminding himself that Rampage could have killed him the last time but had decided not to. That decision was open to interpretation. Waspinator liked to think Rampage had spared him because he was the one responsible for setting him free, but there was the unsettling notion that Rampage might simply have kept him alive at that stage because he was too damaged to have been any fun to kill. Waspinator was not naïve. He knew Rampage got enormous pleasure from torturing his victims before they met their end.

Eventually he decided that he needed a dip in the CR tank. His injuries were not terrible but they were aggravating him constantly. If Rampage came during that time and went to the time and trouble of pulling him out of there and doing as he pleased with him, then so be it. Though Waspinator fancied the crab had better things to do. He went offline for a megacycle and was gradually restored.

Near the end of that cycle, Myst came into the base, seeking far more urgent repairs. She tried the CR tank nearest to her and just as she was about to raise the platform to get on, it raised itself. The white semi-liquid of repair nanites flowed off of the wasp as he emerged from the tank.

"Hah! You made it out!" Myst cried.

Waspinator jumped to his feet, startled. He blinked up at the fuzor staring at her. "So did fuzor-femme," he stated.

Myst nodded. "I didn't know if what little I did to help your escape would be enough. I'm glad it was."

"Waspinator grateful."

Myst extended a hand and helped him off the platform. "Fuzor-femme looks scrapped," he observed bluntly.

"Yeah," she grumbled. "A combination of the storm, Depth Charge and Rampage."

Waspinator tilted his head at the latter mention. "Did fuzor-femme talk to crabbot?"

Myst nodded softly. "Yes. I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is I don't know. He didn't kill either of us when he could have, so...make of that what you will." She clambered down onto the platform.

"Crabbot hurt fuzor-femme?" Waspinator stated more than asked.

She lay down on the platform and glanced up blearily at the waspbot, suddenly very tired. "Lower the platform, will you please?"

Waspinator did as he was asked and watched her until she was completely hidden by the repair nanites. He was still for a long time after as he thought things through. Finally he decided to watch the monitors while he planned what to do next. Megatron was gone now, and Waspinator had always believed he had better and bigger plans than the tyrant. But now that it came to it, he found that he missed his once-leader for his firm decision-making and strong ability for control. Waspinator had no clue what to do now that his choices were entirely his own. He felt a little better that he was with Myst again, but her words on Rampage were not encouraging. He wished there was a clear path for him to take, but right now everything was in the dark. All he could do was try his very best to survive.

* * *

Optimus waited for Rattrap to hop off before he transformed to robot mode. Immediately he was on the defensive, as was Silverbolt and Rattrap. Before they approached the prone Depth Charge, they checked the area for Rampage. The trees shook and swayed, creating distorted black shapes against the harsh bursts of white light. The forest seemed to close in and smother them. Rattrap was the first to voice his discomfort.

"It's dark and creepy in 'ere and we ain't spotted crabby, so why don't we kill the suspense and get Depth Charge outta here as soon as possible."

Optimus relaxed his posture a little and turned his searching gaze from the forest shadows to the bot he'd come to rescue. He noted Depth Charge was lying face down with some nasty entry wounds on his back. "Let's help him, then."

Silverbolt broke their defensive formation first and came to the fallen Maximal. He knelt beside him and frowned. "Rattrap, was he facing this direction when he was firing?"

Rattrap strode over to him, eyes still scanning the forest. He changed his focus to the ray's back wounds. He too frowned. "I don't think he was. And those don't look like Rampage's signature missile holes."

Optimus joined them but only glanced at the manta, unwilling to have all three of them looking away from the forest. "We can discuss how he entered stasis lock back at base. Now watch the forest while I get a hold on him."

Rattrap and Silverbolt watched opposite sides as Optimus picked up Depth Charge carefully. He noticed he was still gripping the handle of his primary weapon. He also noticed that his secondary weapon wasn't on him or anywhere to be seen. He decided to keep this discovery to himself for the moment and took flight.

"Silverbolt, you fly Rattrap. Don't drop your guard, though. Rampage could still fire from the forest."

"Understood," the fuzor said and allowed Rattrap to climb onto his back. They took off and started the journey back to base, heads full of questions.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

**Countdown**

Part Two

**By:** Sapphire (aka Malachite157)

* * *

The wind clawed at him as he tried to fly to safety. The lightning kept startling him and the thunder filled his head with its deafening voice.

Silverbolt strained against the force of the gale that hampered him on his way home. Rattrap clutched onto him tightly, as he'd already almost been blown off twice. Optimus was having a less difficult time keeping airborne with the help of his jets, whereas Silverbolt was smaller and relying on animal wings to keep him up. Though the storm had been raging for several hours, it had hardly lessened in strength.

A particularly strong gust forced Silverbolt to rear up against it and beat his wings hard and fast. As soon as had recovered, another blast of air threatened to send him into a spin. He opened a comm. channel to his leader.

"Optimus, this wind his besting me! It's getting too strong," he shouted.

A hundred meters ahead, Optimus responded. "Perhaps we should lower our altitude. The winds are less vicious further down."

Silverbolt felt ill at the prospect. The closer they were to the forest, the easier it would be for Rampage to see and shoot them. "I don't know if that's---" he started, but a huge bang of thunder cut him short. The rain was swept hard against him, drenching his wings and making them heavy. He felt Rattrap wriggling in discomfort on top of him.

"Crimeny, Bolt! We gotta get outta da thick 'o this or we're gonna be blown away like leaves!"

Silverbolt nodded grimly and prepared to drop altitude. "I'm going down eighty meters," he informed Optimus. The Maximal responded by dropping down.

Silverbolt carefully and gradually sank in the air and was just about to achieve his target height above ground when there was an incredibly bright flash, a bang and intense heat and pain. At first Silverbolt thought he'd been shot but as he felt the electricity run through and short his circuits he knew it was lightning. He lost all power control in his wings and plummeted. The fear of falling came a dazed few seconds later, and was heightened when he realized Rattrap was no longer with him. His body was frozen in a stiff, contorted position of agony and burning all over. The air rushed past him and the black layer of the forest canopy filled his vision. Silverbolt closed his eyes as he made contact with the first branches. He vaguely felt them gripping and tearing at him as he went through like a large stone, but he was too stunned to react to anything. He felt the impact and prayed silently for stasis lock. He was granted that wish.

Optimus heard the deafening boom behind him and turned as sharply as the winds would allow to see what had happened. It took him a frustrating amount of time and when he looked for Silverbolt and Rattrap, he did not find them. He knew then that they'd been hit and had fallen into the forest.

His first initiative was to try and contact them via their comm. links. He was not surprised to get no response. The storm was causing havoc with their communications even on a short range basis. He stopped in midair, keeping his eyes trained on the ominous shadow of the forest below. He wondered if they'd been hit by lightning, or from a missile. If they'd been brought down by natural causes, then perhaps they stood a chance, but if they'd been a target...

Optimus was torn in two. He had to go after them, because they were sitting ducks down there. But he had a responsibility in getting Depth Charge to safety. He knew that it would be impossible for him to locate and rescue them while he had Depth Charge to carry. With a sickening feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach, Optimus turned back to the direction of the Ark, and set his blasters to maximum. He had to return here as soon as possible, or he'd surely lose them for good.

* * *

Rhinox felt his body go cold. He watched in quiet horror as the signatures of Silverbolt and Rattrap separated, blinked several times and then disappeared altogether. Optimus's signature went off the radar, as well.

He knew there was nothing he could do from his end but wait and hope he'd get a signal again. The storm was circling and the lull in the energon radiation was coming, or had come to an end. He waited for several cycles that dragged by almost painfully. Then, to his relief, Optimus's signature blinked back on the scanners. He was a lot closer to the base now, but he was without his companions. He unhappily realized, then, that they'd not recovered from whatever threw them off-course.

His head fell into his hands and he groaned. Though his face was buried in his palms, he could detect a change in light from the corner of his vision. He froze, not wanting to look up, because he knew that he would discover. With a heavy sigh, he raised his head and met the darkness. The back-up generators had failed.

Unable to control his temper brought on by frustration, he yelled: "Blackarachnia, what did you do to repair the chewed circuitry earlier!"

The ringing silence that greeted him only further unnerved him. He opened a comm. channel to her.

"Blackarachnia---"

"I heard you! I'm coming."

Rhinox switched on his infra red and stared at the entrance to the control room. A few moments later Blackarachnia emerged silently like a dark ghost. "I re-connected the wires and taped them over. Either the rats have been especially busy tonight and chewed through them again, or it's a fault in the generator itself. Considering it was salvaged from a severely battered Axalon, I wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter," she said as she came over.

"We never properly tested it, I admit," Rhinox grumbled as he stood. They hadn't had much to work with when they moved in here.

"What's going on here! Why's it dark!" echoed a young, frightened voice.

"We're in the control room, Cheetor," Rhinox hollered. He turned to the Predacon femme. "We've got another problem," he announced gravely.

Blackarachnia was aware that Silverbolt had gone on a mission to retrieve Depth Charge, and so she automatically assumed something was wrong for him. "Where are they?" she asked, unable to mask the worry in her voice.

"Rattrap and Silverbolt separated and disappeared over Grid Alca. Optimus is on his way here. I don't know what happened, but---"

"It's obviously not good," Blackarachnia finished unhappily. She impulsively made for the computers only to stop short when she saw their screens were blank. Of course, the generator's power fed them, too.

Cheetor arrived in the control room looking panicked. "What happened to the power?" he asked Rhinox.

"Not sure, but I think the back-up generator failed. We need to go and check it out. Blackarachnia? If you'd show me where you patched up those circuits," Rhinox said. Blackarachnia slowly turned to face him, obviously distracted. "How close was Optimus to us?"

"He'll be here in about five cycles. Let's try to give him some welcoming light," he said as he gestured to her to follow him.

"Wait, where's Optimus gone and where's Silverbolt and Rattrap?" Cheetor asked a little frantically.

"They went to collect Depth Charge. He was hurt. Look, we have to tend to the generators. You can help if you wait by the doors and unbolt them when Optimus arrives, if the power's not restored by that stage." Rhinox moved to the hallway but paused a moment. "Don't unlock them until you're sure it's him," he added, and then disappeared into the gloom, Blackarachnia close behind.

Cheetor stared after them a moment while he composed himself. He was feeling terribly anxious, and the mere thought of lingering by the blast doors alone, was heightening his anxiety.

Steeling himself against the building fear, he headed over to the base's entrance.

* * *

He came to slowly. The first thing he became fully conscious of was the rain. He felt it splashing on his aching form. He stirred.

Silverbolt moaned. He tried to move but found his body heavy and sore, and still warm. Being struck by lightning was not an experience he wanted to go through again. He lay still and allowed his systems some more time to recover. When he felt ready, he slowly sat up. The movement was difficult and painful, but he felt compelled by some distant alarming urge to get up and away. Once he was upright, he allowed his thoughts to gather. Then he remembered why he felt alarmed.

Startled into action, Silverbolt looked over his shoulder, wide-eyed. His vision was poor, as the bright flash of lightning had damaged his optics and disabled his infra-red. He squinted in the gloom and was able to make out that he was in the thick of the forest and all that was before him was a mass of tangled branches and thick bushes. They shivered and writhed in the wind that penetrated the thick canopy and whirled around him.

Fear rushed to him and he turned sharply to look to his right when he heard something snapping. All he could see was shaking forms of trees, lit sporadically in white flashes. He felt panicked that he could not see properly. It was as if he were naked and everything was watching him squirm feebly in the torrents of rain and howling gale.

He tried to stand and felt an immediate stab of pain in his joints. His entire body was shocked and his internals were badly damaged. He knew, given enough time, his circuits would recover and moving wouldn't be so difficult, but he couldn't wait that long. He had to get out of here as soon as possible!

Grimacing, he forced himself up into a standing position. Once he was up, he allowed himself a moment to catch his breath and survey his surroundings as best he could. After regarding his immediate area, Silverbolt came to the conclusion that it was impossible to tell which direction he was facing in relation to the base. He didn't know where to start heading.

_'Maybe I should remain stationary and wait for Optimus to find me. If I stray too far from here, he won't be able to locate me.'_

It was the logical decision, but he felt an overwhelming urge to run and move away. He felt incredibly unsafe here. He thought that if he kept moving, **_he_** wouldn't be able to catch him. Or, at least it'd be more difficult.

Silverbolt started forward and his body instantly protested. He ignored the pain and warning messages and pushed onwards. He had barely gone five steps when his legs gave way and he fell. A root snagged his foot and he jerked in fright and started scrambling forward. He tugged his leg several times before the root finally snapped and he fell face first into the mud. He pushed himself up and rolled over onto his back, panting. He was coming apart! He couldn't let this fear take control. Silverbolt closed his eyes and forced himself to think. The threat of Rampage had been looming over them all and had grown bigger and more terrifying as the time passed. Now that he was out in the open and exposed to the killer he'd barely escaped from before, he felt frightened beyond his wits. When the crabbot had been under Megatron's control, he'd felt some false comfort at knowing he was leashed and never at full power. But on their first meeting, Rampage had held him in his great claw and tapped into his terror like...like he was an open book! It had been an unnerving experience he'd had to suppress in order to fight him in other battles.

But this was not a battle. There was no match. Rampage was free, and he was trapped by his injuries. There was nothing to inhibit the murderer from doing what Depth Charge said he _enjoyed _doing.

Silverbolt felt he would choke with terror.

"No," he murmured. "I won't let this consume me," he told himself. He rolled back onto his stomach and heaved himself up. He looked behind him and saw a small gap in the bushes. He backed into the gap and curled into himself in the thicket. He would wait here and keep on alert for any sign of light. If he saw light, he knew it'd be of the blasters of Optimus. Silverbolt swallowed hard and closed his eyes, concentrating on steadying his nerves. He knew there was a chance he'd have to fight for his life, and if he did, he had to have a plan. He couldn't do much in his current state, but if he kept his wits about him, he might survive this nightmare.

* * *

Rattrap had been caught in the trees on his way down. He was wedged in the V of a two diverging branches of a thick tree. His sides were aching and throbbing and his head was spinning. He'd spent what felt like an hour trying to work his way free. Finally, he'd wormed his way out of the niche and toppled head first the ten meters to the ground. It took him a while to gather enough strength to get out of the mud.

Rattrap examined himself. He was covered in scratches and burnt patches, but all his limbs were functioning. His internals were quite shot, he knew that, and that was affecting his infra-red. It was flickering in erratic bursts. His eyes had been closed when they'd been struck, and that's probably why he was able to see at all. Cowardice had some advantages. His face had been buried in Silverbolt's fur after a particularly loud crash of thunder.

Remembering his comrade, Rattrap looked around him to see if he could spot him. All he could see was trees and foliage. He sighed. It was quite likely they'd been blown far apart.

He tried to access his internal computer's grid-map, only to find that it too was malfunctioning. The grid flashed across his vision for a brief moment and then sputtered out. Rattrap cursed himself for not paying close enough attention to the compass on the top right hand corner. He fancied it was showing him as facing north, but he wasn't sure.

He got slowly and painfully to his feet and tried walking. It hurt and his legs felt like lead weights, but he was able to do it. He stopped and tried to remember which direction the base would be in relation to him. "Well, assuming I'm facin' north," he muttered. He adjusted himself and faced east.

A part of him felt that he should at least try and find Silverbolt. The fuzor could be in serious trouble. But this forest was immense and Silverbolt could be anywhere. He could spend the whole night looking for him, while all that time he'd be vulnerable to attack. Rattrap was uncomfortably aware that this was the same forest they'd found Depth Charge battered and offline in. Rampage was most likely still stalking through it, drawn to his pain.

Rattrap was unable to suppress a shudder. His constant sense of impending doom everyone told him off for voicing seemed quite fitting for this situation. He'd often thought they were all going to perish when things looked bleak and time and time again he'd been proven wrong. He only hoped that his cynical outlook would end in a pleasant surprise again.

"Gotta keep my eyes open," he told himself. He felt frightened, but he was able to keep it in check. Rattrap intensely hated what Rampage was, and that loathing was what curbed the fear somewhat. He was determined not to give the crab the satisfaction of his death.

He started walking forward, aiming to break out of this forest and get back to base. He knew it would be useless trying to drive through the mud and broken trees. He'd have to make his way carefully, by foot.

"I jus' hope yer doin' da same, Bolt," he murmured. Something deep within him told him that wasn't the case.

* * *

Optimus hammered his fist against the doors. "Rhinox? Cheetor?"

He waited for someone to let him in. He could make out the doors rattling slightly and then they opened a crack. One green optic peered through. Relief washed across Cheetor's barely visible face and the doors were pushed open slowly. "Sorry, Optimus," he apologised. "I was just being careful."

Optimus nodded understandingly and helped him widen them and then bent to pick up Depth Charge. He came inside to darkness.

"Don't tell me. The back-up's failed," he sighed.

Cheetor nodded. "The power went out just a few cycles ago. Rhinox and Blackarachnia are checking it out now."

"Right. Close the doors, please Cheetor."

Cheetor frowned. "Wait, what about Silverbolt and Rattrap?" he asked, suddenly realizing they were not with him.

Optimus shook his head miserably. "They're not coming. They got hit while we were flying over the forest."

Cheetor's optics widened in shock. "Hit? You mean by a missile!"

Optimus started forward, wanting to put Depth Charge down somewhere. "I don't know. It's quite likely it was lightning. We were flying too high, because we were trying to avoid getting hit by missiles. It didn't pay off for us. I'm going back to find them now."

Cheetor frantically closed the doors and bolted them, then hurried after his leader. He caught up with him as he was placing Depth Charge on an examining table. "So they're out there alone and damaged?" he repeated unnecessarily.

"Yes and quite frankly I don't think they're going to last if we leave them there. I'm going after them. I want you to keep alert for them, in case by some miracle they make it to the base in the next few hours. Tell Rhinox what happened and where I've gone. I'm going to be searching Grid Alca."

With that, Optimus turned and headed off for the doors. Cheetor watched him leave, wanting to say things but finding he had no words. He knew Optimus was doing the right thing, but he feared for him, and he feared for being without him. He felt safer when Optimus was in base. He was, in his mind, the only bot strong enough to keep Rampage at bay. Depth Charge would have been a comfort if he were online, but the mantabot was out for the count. Cheetor knew his desire to have Optimus close at hand was a selfish one, but he was beginning to really suffer from the uncertainty and fear.

He forced himself to turn around and go to Rhinox. He needed to know what was happening, although, much to Cheetor's discomfort, there really wasn't much to tell at this stage.

* * *

Silverbolt jerked. He'd fallen asleep and he'd not realized it until something woke him. He was wide awake now and alarmed as to what had startled him. Perhaps it was instinct. He squinted at the gloom, trying to see if there was something there. The whole forest seemed to be alive with movement. If something was lurking in the shadows, there was plenty of cover for its advancement. Silverbolt shivered.

The more he stared, the more his unease increased. His wolf fur was prickling down his neck and back and his ears were twitching at every snap and groan from the thrashing trees. He felt heavy with dread. Something was definitely wrong, he could sense it.

Then he saw something. Something large peeked briefly above the line of bushes several meters ahead of him. Silverbolt started, then froze. He scrutinized the area, eyes wide and terrified.

When nothing happened for several long moments, he began to get restless. He wanted to move. His eyes could be playing tricks on him, but then there could have been something there that was now creeping up on him. Unless it hadn't seen him...

Silverbolt decided backing further into the brush and covering himself up was his best option now. If he lay low and kept hidden then he might stand a chance. As quietly and controlled as possible, Silverbolt began edging back slowly, gaze fixed on the bushes ahead. The spindly branches and thorns scratched him as he moved, and then he hit something. Something cool and hard. Silverbolt felt a cold and hot flush go through him as the terror gripped his throat like a vice. He was petrified to the spot, mind racing on what to do, but fear got the better of him. Silverbolt let loose a scream and rushed forward, only to have something sharp grab his back legs and pull him towards it. He clawed desperately at the ground as he felt his body being lifted.

"NO!"

* * *

Rattrap froze in mid-step. Something suddenly felt terribly wrong. He looked over his shoulder. Black and green flickers crossed his vision, as his malfunctioning infra-red flashed and sputtered. He caught glimpses of the forest behind him and saw nothing out of the ordinary. But still, something **_felt_** amiss.

He shook his head and turned back to walking forward. He had to get out of here. He was getting too nervous and skittish for his own good. He remembered walking alone down alleyways in the bad parts of town, where he'd lived most of his life. Twice, he'd been stalked and attacked, and twice he'd survived solely by acting quickly and keeping a cool head. After a while, he'd developed a sixth sense for trouble and was able to slink away into the shadows and elude those out to get him. The setting was different, but the situation was not not. He was prey in a hostile environment, and he had to keep one step ahead of the predator to make it out alive.

While the feeling of danger did not ebb away, the pang of alarm did as the night wore on. Rattrap calculated he had been travelling for a megacycle and a half and that meant the edge of the forest was not far. Once he was out of it, he'd be able to drive over the barren terrain leading up to the Ark crash site. He looked forward to reverting to vehicle mode and speeding away as fast as possible.

He wondered whether Optimus was out looking for them. The Maximal leader was considerably stronger in his Optimal form than he'd been before and so he should be able to hold his own against Rampage should he encounter him, but then, the crabbot was very clever at disabling his enemies. It was Rampage's intelligence that made him all the more frightening. Rattrap wasn't sure he felt comfortable knowing his leader might be out in this storm searching for him. He wanted to be found by him, of course, but the possibility of Optimus falling to the mass-murderer loose in these woods didn't bear thinking about. Without him, there'd be nothing between them and Rampage until the completion of the weapon. While Optimus was with them, he was sure the crab wouldn't assault the base.

He'd been keeping such worries out of his head so he'd be fully alert while he travelled, but as he neared the end of the worst danger, he'd let his guard down enough to think about them. He snapped back to reality when, in a lengthy flicker of his infra-red he caught sight of a form moving through the trees ahead of him. Rattrap stopped abruptly. The guiding light of infra-red faded and darkness greeted him. "Damn it," he cursed quietly. He reversed a few steps and then changed course slightly, so he was walking wide of the area of movement. Confusing flashes of lightning and brief bursts of green-light broke up the darkness. In one of those flashes, he saw a ghostly grey shadow walking towards him. Rattrap stopped again and backtracked slowly, staring intently ahead of him. Another short flash of light revealed that the ghost was no longer in front of him. Rattrap shook his head in defiance and turned sharply to his right and started jogging forward. The thunder clapped and filled the air, masking any sounds of approach. The rain had caused areas of the ground to sink in and potholes and muddy ditches were everywhere, often hidden by masses of leaves and small broken trees. Rattrap had carefully been picking his way around these hazards, but now that he was rushing, he kept treading in them and hastily pulling out of them.

He clambered forward as he pulled himself free of a shallow sinkhole. He stopped to look over his shoulder. Not twenty feet away he caught a glimpse of something passing behind some trees. "Primus above," he whispered fearfully. He turned back and started running. It was obvious now that his hunter knew he was aware of being hunted. Fear was written in all his movements.

Rattrap's panting and hoarse, sharp breaths filled his audios along with the thunder and every snapping branch and crunch of bramble beneath his feet. His infra-red returned long enough to reveal a clearing ahead. The edge of the forest was within sight.

Rattrap stopped suddenly and rushed to his left, diving over a thick entanglement of brush and rolling forward, then stealthily leaping right and making a sprint for the edge. He hoped his sudden, erratic movements would throw off his hunter. Heading directly for the edge could have been heading directly into a trap. The last ten meters seemed to last an eternity, but finally he broke free from the nightmare of the forest.

He didn't stop to breathe in relief. He immediately transformed to vehicle mode and revved his engines to maximum power. He shot across the flat landscape and concentrated on nothing other than getting to the base. He couldn't stop, even if he'd wanted to. He was driven by terror.

* * *

Cheetor walked down the hallway back towards the blast doors. He'd just spoken to Rhinox and Blackarachnia and informed them of Optimus's return with Depth Charge and where the leader was headed now. Rhinox had told him that he'd found out what the problem with the power was and that he and Blackarachnia were going to need a few megacycles to sort it out. Cheetor was to keep post at the doors and wait for Optimus's return.

While he was glad that they'd found the problem, Cheetor was more than a little nervous of being stuck in the dark for such a lengthy amount of time. He came to the blast doors and stood guard. He tried to comfort himself by humming a tune he'd learnt long ago, when he was younger and more innocent. He'd seen so much in this war and it weighed down on his mind. After Dinobot died, he'd realized the fragility of his own mortality for the first time. The war had suddenly become much more real and threatening. He'd not seen what had happened to Megatron, but from the snippets of descriptions he'd picked up from hushed conversations between Depth Charge and Optimus, it had been especially horrible. He'd never really recognised the full threat of Rampage until recently. It was only when Depth Charge had arrived that he'd learnt about his history, and even then it had been hard to believe when he only ever saw the crab as a strictly controlled slave of Megatron's.

But now... Now that Megatron was gone and all the attention had very suddenly and intensely focussed on Rampage, he began to comprehend just how dangerous the crabbot was. Optimus would not be reacting so strongly, otherwise. Depth Charge was edgy at the best of times, but he now had a wild, deep look of terror in his eyes that alarmed Cheetor. There was a constant sense of urgency and unease in the air and it was having an effect on him. In the past few days, Rampage had grown into the monster he was fabled to be and Cheetor was afraid.

The hours dragged by slowly and Cheetor was lost in some thoughts of home when he heard a sharp crackle. He jumped at least a foot in the air in fright. He realized the noise had come for his comm. link. He stared at it with a degree of dread, then summoned the courage to answer it. "Cheetor here?"

Sounds of thunder and rain came through, garbled and broken with static and then a voice. "Ch--or? It's Rattrap. Let---in."

"Rattrap!" he shouted into his comm., surprised.

"Let me in, kid!"

"Okay, I'm coming!"

Cheetor quickly set about undoing the various, heavy-duty bolts and then pried open the doors enough for him to see outside and double-check. He stared into the night and with the aid of his infra-red he could spot Rattrap speeding towards him, weaving around some of the rocks and boulders. Relieved, Cheetor pushed open the doors fully and stepped outside. He waved his right hand to signal to Rattrap.

The transmetal rat stopped twenty meters away and transformed to robot mode. His body visibly sagged as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Is Silverbolt with you!" Cheetor yelled, looking around for any trace of the fuzor. Rattrap shook his head and started walking towards Cheetor. "Nah. We got blown apart. I dunno where he is," Rattrap hollered through the wind and rain. "Is Optimus in?"

Cheetor took a tentative step forward, uncomfortable with going any further. "He went out looking for you two."

Rattrap nodded and said, "Can't ya contact him ta call him back in or is the radiation still too----"

Rattrap's sentence ended in a choked cry as suddenly something emerged from the obelisk behind him and grabbed him. Cheetor gasped and watched in mute horror as Rampage side-stepped out from his hiding place in crab mode, holding Rattrap in the air in his left claw. Rattrap was wriggling and thrashing as much as Rampage's tight grip would allow.

"RATTRAP!" Cheetor shouted in dismay.

The small Maximal struggled against the crushing metal pincers he was held between. His entire body tingled with the desire to be free and animal instincts started taking hold. He felt a surge of panic going through him and cloud out intelligent thought. _He **had **to get free! _

"Silly Maximal," came a dark, husky voice above the wind and rain. "You let your guard down too soon. Thought you'd easily outrun me. But you forgot the river," he scorned softly.

Rattrap stopped squirming and looked at his captor for the first time in the eyes. Rampage stared up at him, jagged-toothed jaws glinting wet in the flickers of lightning. "It's not far from here. The rain filled the river nicely. I move fast in the water."

"Let me go, Rampage. You're outnumbered," Rattrap managed to say. He regarded the crab as coldly and confidently as possible.

"Like that stopped me before!" Rampage bellowed, and then laughed haughtily. He clamped his pincer tighter. Rattrap gurgled as he felt things cracking and snapping inside him.

"I can snap you in half without even thinking. You deserve it for being out on a night like this. You should have left the ray alone. He's survived this long without your help."

Rattrap was unable to reply as he was too busy retching and wheezing. The pressure applied to his front and back was incredible. Rampage was literally squeezing the life out of him.

"BACK OFF, CRABBY!" a cry carried on the wind and then there was a bright flash of green light. Rattrap felt the unpleasantly familiar burn of a laser shot and Rampage flung him. He felt himself soaring through the air although he saw nothing of it. All he could see was black as his systems began to fail. Then he hit something and felt nothing.

Cheetor continued to fire into the crab even after Rattrap was free. He knew if he left Rattrap in his claw any longer he would have died. He had no choice but to blast him free. Rampage had not taken kindly to the interruption and was now scuttling towards him. Cheetor's laser shots exploded on the approaching bot's armour but did little damage. All he succeeded in doing was slowing his advance. He shouted into his comm. "Rhinox! Help! Rampage is attacking and he's just hurt Rattrap!" He backed up against the door and fired continuously, his entire body shuddering with the constant backlash. Rampage continued forward, completely disregarding the blasts. Cheetor felt glued to the spot. If he went back inside, Rattrap would surely die. But if he didn't...

"RHINOX!"

He felt someone knock past him and then Rhinox was there, firing his twin chain guns. Rampage stopped and recoiled a little as the Maximal scientist fired mercilessly. "Get Rattrap!" Rhinox ordered through gritted teeth. "Blackarachnia!"

Blackarachnia rushed up beside him and started using her eight leg guns. It took Cheetor a moment to register the order and then he transformed to beast mode and sped to where he'd seen Rattrap go flying. In the rain and dark he couldn't see him right away. Before he could get close, though, he felt a sharp pain in his side and intense heat and the next thing he knew he was skidding along the ground at speed.

Rhinox saw the catbot get blasted from the corner of his eye. No sooner had Blackarachnia joined the fray than Rampage had transformed and taken out his heavy artillery. Cheetor was the first to suffer it.

"We've got to get hold of Optimus! We can't hold up against him alone!" Blackarachnia shouted above the cacophony of blasts, shrieks and booms.

"Can't. Storm's prohibiting all long-distance communications ---grnngh!"

Rhinox was thrown back against the doors by a shot. Blackarachnia narrowly missed being hit herself as she leapt to the left and rolled. She was back up on her feet in time to leap again as Rampage squeezed off another round.

She transformed to beast mode and skittered over to some rocks and hid, panting furiously. She looked over to the doors and saw Rhinox keeled over but still firing. "Get inside!" she cried. Rhinox looked at her briefly and then a missile blew him through the doors and out of sight. "RHINOX!" she screamed. There was a deafening explosion and the rock she was hiding behind broke up and smashed into her in bits, sending her twisting through he air. She landed in an awkward roll a few meters away, debris raining down on her. Pain wracked her body as she lay there, trying and failing to move. Her body felt broken and limp. A distant, haunting laugh drifted to her ears. "No," she moaned weakly and struggled against the paralysis. She managed to roll off her back onto her stomach, but her thin, spider legs were too battered and weak to support her. As she looked up, she saw a looming figure come over her.

* * *

Depth Charge lurched forwards, grappling at the air and staring wide-eyed into darkness. He sat in that position, panting in some impulse of panic. It took him a few seconds to realize his infra-red wasn't on. He switched over and to his surprise found himself looking at the blank screens of the Maximal computers. He was in the control room, on the main table. He was also completely alone.

"Wha--huh?" he uttered, confused. He paused and allowed himself a moment to calm down and then tried to figure out what had happened. He must have been rescued. Optimus was the only bot large enough to carry him back here. But there was no sign of the leader, or any of his Maximals. There was also no sign of power in the base. It was probably why he hadn't woken up in a CR. chamber. He was still damaged from his earlier fight, but internal repairs had done enough for him to function sufficiently.

He gingerly rubbed his back and felt the rough areas of his metal where he'd been hit. He remembered then that he'd been shot from behind. "That bitch," he murmured, immediately feeling aggressive again. He eased off the table and looked around. There was absolutely no sign of life. "Optimus?" he called out irritably. The silence that answered him was empty. The only sound was the muffled rumbles of thunder.

An immediate feeling of unease came over the manta as he walked across the room. He felt a cold breeze blowing against his lower leg as he passed the exit of the control room that eventually led to the blast doors. There should not have been any drafts coming from that hallway as the blast doors were meant to be tightly shut at all times. Depth Charge felt something knot inside him. Something was definitely wrong.

He turned down the hallway and quietly made his way to the base's exit. As he rounded the final corner he was blasted by a gust of cold air. He blinked in surprise and then saw the doors were open and heavily damaged. There was a gaping jagged hole in the left door. Depth Charge felt sick with dread. Ahead of him, past the broken doorway was only darkness and rain. An acute and awful sense of déjà vu overcame him as he stared into that concealing blackness. After an undeterminable amount of time, he willed himself to step through and into the storm.

The rain pelted against his face and body and the lightning hurt his optics due to the light-intensifying effects of his infra-red. He could smell the pungent scent of mech fluid and missile debris and see scorch marks on some of the rocks and boulders. There had been battle here, but there were no bodies in sight. Depth Charge was unable to stop a gasp when he felt something slither over his foot. He looked down and saw an arm draped over it. To his shock it belonged to Rattrap. The little bot was severely damaged and barely twitching. "Rattrap!"

When he did not stir again, Depth Charge bent and picked him up carefully. He hurried back inside and carried him to the table in the control room. He lay him down gently and looked him over. His abdomen was crushed and his body charred and covered in gashes and scrapes. There were deep indents like teeth marks on his back and stomach. Depth Charge recognised them as the marks Rampage's razor-edged claws made.

He prodded the transmetal rat gently. "Rattrap? Are you online?"

Rattrap's optics flickered once and then went dull. His body rose as he drew in a deep breath. "Rattrap?"

"...'Charge?"

Depth Charge put a comforting hand on the injured Maximal's shoulder. "Yeah, it's me. Can you tell me what happened?"

Rattrap's body sagged as he exhaled in a long, trembling sigh. "R...Rampage..."

Depth Charge's hand tightened around the little bot's shoulder at the name. "Rampage was here? Where are the others?"

Rattrap coughed violently and ended up gurgling. His head rolled to the side and his fingers curled. "No! No, don't leave me buddy," Depth Charge said gruffly and put his hand under Rattrap's head. "I'll take care of you, but you've _got_ to tell me what happened! Where's Optimus?"

Rattrap said something, but his vocals were too rough for Depth Charge to make sense of it. "What was that?"

Rattrap was obviously unable to see as his optics were still dim, but he rolled his head so he was facing him again. "Out...lookin' fer 'Bolt. Dunno...where everyone else is. Think they...fought back."

Depth Charge froze and stared intently at the broken, dying bot before him. The implications of Rattrap's words sent an icy chill through him.

"The power's down so I can't put you in a CR chamber. I'm gonna patch up some of your wounds manually, to stop the fluid loss, okay?"

Rattrap did not answer. He was too weak. Depth Charge set about finding some thin metal pieces and a welder. The primitive repairs he was going to perform on Rattrap would be crude and painful, but they might just keep him alive until he managed to get the power back on.

Finally he had found what he needed and started work on sealing the rat's more serious wounds. He only whimpered a little when he used the welder, but was otherwise silent throughout the process. When Depth Charge had done all he could, he carried Rattrap to his quarters and laid him down to rest on his recharge bed, hooking him up to some energon to keep his power levels up. He closed and locked the door and then headed down the hallway to do what he had been both longing and dreading to do.

The raybot stepped into the rain and wind and began a search of the immediate area. His scanners were not picking up any sign of Rampage in close proximity. He could see that the crab had been here, though. Tank tracks scarred the ground and missile shells littered the place. He found what he was looking for soon enough.

"Ohhhhhhh... HRRR-NO!"

He fell to his knees beside the mangled corpse of Rhinox. Blackarachnia lay strewn in bits not far away. The flashes of lightning illuminated the bodies and highlighted the carnage. Depth Charge's fingers dug into the wet earth as he bowed his head, optics dark in grief and fury. _Not again...by Primus **not again**..._

* * *

Rattrap passed out shortly after Depth Charge put him in his quarters. He had woken now and felt terrible. His entire body was burning and certain areas felt as if they were boiling and melting. The scalding pain was only a dim echo of the melding process, though. He'd been too weak to let out more than feeble cries at the agony, but now, despite how awful he felt, he was a little stronger. The energon had sped up internal repairs and he was no longer leaking precious fluid. He wasn't a fan of that fish, but he'd done him a big favour tonight. Although...

_"If ya hadn't gone off in da storm like that, none of this woulda happened,"_ he thought miserably. He remembered then what had happened. He'd been blasted out of Rampage's claw and thrown against a boulder. He'd gone offline, but had come to briefly during the fight. He'd heard Blackarachnia screaming and intermittent firing from Rhinox's chain guns. Then he'd heard a single blast, the sound of metal being rent and the screams dying down. He'd passed out again, partly from his injuries and partly from shock. Perhaps passing out had saved his life. Rampage might have left him alone because he was not conscious to feel the pain of death. Rattrap wasn't sure. He also wasn't completely sure the others were dead. He'd been disorientated when he'd woken and lying in a ditch, out of view from the main fight. He'd not heard anything from Cheetor, so it was possible that the kid was at least alive, somewhere. Rattrap tried to comfort himself with these possibilities, but deep inside, he feared the worst.

He tried to move. He was able to strain upwards a bit before his body gave up and he fell with a soft thud back onto the recharge bed. He activated his optics and this time they lit fully. He found himself staring at a dully lit ceiling. The power was back on back-up, he could tell by the low light.

"You shouldn't move. There's not enough power for the CR chamber yet."

Rattrap was startled by the voice. He rolled his head to the side to see Depth Charge sitting on a stool across the room. The manta was not looking at him. He was hunched over, arms draped over both knees, gaze fixed on the ground. His entire posture was slumped and despondent.

"Depth Charge...what...what's happened?" Rattrap asked quietly, voice scratchy from all the dry mech fluid coating his voice box.

Depth Charge was stock-still. It took him a long time to answer, but Rattrap could sense there was something wrong and so he did not press the raybot.

"They're all dead, Rattrap. Rhinox, Blackarachnia...Cheetor."

Rattrap felt his throat close up and his body stiffen. He remained motionless, simply staring with wide, sad eyes at the sombre ex-Guardian. A long silence followed.

"...and Optimus?"

Depth Charge shook his head. "I don't know. He's not come back."

Rattrap turned back to staring at the ceiling, trying to calm his trembling spark. He fought the urge to scream.

"_Why_ did you come _after _me?"

Rattrap blinked at the question, then bristled. He looked at Depth Charge angrily, only to find the raybot was looking equally as furious.

"You slaggin' bastard, Depth Charge! Why the hell d'ya think we came after you? Does it warrant explainin'?"

"Yes! I've been hunting X for stellar-cycles! I can hold my own against him! I didn't need you to come after me and endanger yourselves. You were idiots for leaving the base---"

"LOOK who's TALKIN'!" Rattrap shouted, and immediately regretted it. He started to cough and hot sears of pain went through him.

"I went out there to stop Myst from telling him what we had planned! If he became aware what we had in store for him, he would have---"

"DONE THIS?" Rattrap snarled, despite the pain and bubbling mech fluid in his throat. Depth Charge made to say something, then fell silent.

"You're a FOOL, 'Charge! Too long have you been controlled by yer emotions. They've consistently clouded yer judgement, and now it's finally gotten people killed! If you had just stopped ta THINK fer a _second_, none of this woulda happened!"

"You don't know that!" Depth Charge interjected.

Rattrap rolled his eyes and snorted. "Would you LISTEN to yerself? You're slaggin' nuts!"

Depth Charge stood up and the sound of the stool grating on the floor was menacing The entire room seemed filled with his aura of anger. "DON'T you call me that! By the Pit, don't you DARE say that! I won't have you associating any of Rampage's characteristics with me!"

"Well why don't you explain the sense in goin' head first into a raging storm after some femme-bitch who might or might not know somethin'?"

Depth Charge started replying to that when he heard something. He stopped short and Rattrap began to add to his rant when Depth Charge indicated with an elaborate hand gesture that he be quiet. Both listened intently. Then they heard it; heavy footsteps.

"Rhinox?"

It was Optimus's voice. They exchanged glances and Depth Charge made to exit the room.

"What ya gonna tell him?" Rattrap asked tetchily.

"The truth," Depth Charge grunted and left the room. The doors did not close behind him. What power there was was probably reserved for more important functions. In any case, it allowed Rattrap to hear their voices echoing down the hallway.

Depth Charge rounded the corner and found Optimus looking anxiously around the control room. He'd obviously just entered it. The large Maximal spotted him.

"Depth Charge! What happened? Where is everyone?" he asked, distraught.

He stared into Optimus's wide eyes and saw the desperate fear and concern in them. He couldn't bear to keep him in suspense any longer.

"Rampage attacked, while I was unconscious..."

"No," Optimus said softly, dismay already creeping into his eyes.

"They fought him, but only Rattrap survive---"

"No!" Optimus cried sharply. Depth Charge paused and regarded the panicking Maximal. His gaze was no longer on him, but staring unfocusedly past him. "Rattrap's badly damaged, but I think he'll pull through. I'm...I'm sorry."

Optimus's body sagged and he looked at the ground, a disturbing look of shock and wild disbelief on his face.

Depth Charge started forward, wanting to somehow comfort him. He'd felt that same, powerful sense of loss that seemed to hollow out your entire being with its cold emptiness. "I'll make him pay, I swear it," he assured him adamantly. "I'll make him suffer agonies beyond what he can imagine before I---"

He was cut off when Optimus turned suddenly and slammed both his fists down onto the main table. The action shook the entire room and Depth Charge stopped short in his tracks. "They can't all be dead," he moaned, voice breaking. "Where are they? Where's Cheetor?"

Depth Charge struggled to remain calm. He was seething inside. The shock had subsided for him and anger had rushed to fill its place. He wanted to get revenge now, even more so in seeing how shattered Optimus was. He did not like him, but he felt for him. He was just another victim to suffer at the hands of that sadistic murderer.

"I put the bodies in the first storage room. I don't suggest going in there---"

But it was too late. Optimus had already fled down the corridor and was opening the door to the storage room. Depth Charge rushed after him as he disappeared inside. A terrible cry filled the air and slowly petered out to a strangled moan. He slowed to a stop and stood limply, listening to the ensuing sobs.

When he could take no more of it, he turned back down the hallway and headed for the exit. He wasn't going to leave; not yet. He was going to stand guard and pay close attention to his scanners, to make sure Rampage didn't come back. Then, when morning came and he was confident Optimus was together enough to take care of himself and Rattrap, he'd fly to the mountain he'd arranged to meet Inferno at. The weapon to destroy Rampage was incomplete, and the Maximal in charge of its restoration was dead, but he already had plans forming in his mind to work around this. He needed to contact Inferno first. He was going to need his help.

He settled against the wall and stared desolately into the early morning gloom, watching the rain and listening to the rumbling thunder. Dull throes of physical pain were still troubling him as he'd not yet used a CR chamber. He'd survive without one. The power was gradually restoring, thanks to Rhinox's initial repairs and his final touches, and drawing from the energon Primal had mined earlier. Hopefully in a few megacycles Rattrap would be able to use an R-chamber. He occupied his mind with thoughts on how he'd execute the plan he had in mind. He tried to forget the gruesome images of his butchered comrades. He'd seen such brutal killings before and he deeply felt he could take no more of it. He had to end this now, or very soon it'd all be over. He would _not _be another number in Rampage's countdown to victory, neither would he allow any more of his companions to fall victim to him.

Depth Charge told himself wouldn't fail in this. He simply could not.

* * *


End file.
